SB Nation - Bruce Figgins

All News Is Bad News

Richard Pittman — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:30:12 -0000

Note: This post was written before news started leaking that Sidell Corley's mother may have been a murder victim in the Mobile area. As of this writing, the reports remain unconfirmed, and I am allowing the post to stand more or less as-is, even though its tone may be seen as lacking an appropriate amount of solemnity under the circumstances. Suffice it to say that we are not trying to make light of tragedy or to suggest an equivalence between that incident and the issues listed and discussed here.

In this post, we talked about how there is really no news coming out of the football complex these days, and how this is good news indeed. All the news that can come out at this time of the year involves arrests, academic problems, or other various and sundry distractions or scandals. "Everything's A-OK" does not make for a compelling headline, so news is only made when it's bad. Let's review some of the stories from around the SEC right now and analyze just how there really is no good news to be made in the month of May (or June for that matter) in college football:

Kentucky defensive tackle Jeremy Jarmon, one of Kentucky's best players, has been ruled ineligible to play this year because of a positive drug test. In this case, it appears that he bought a supplement that contained a banned substance and failed to clear it with his trainers beforehand.
Tennessee's new strength and conditioning coach, only 5 months on the job, has decided to leave the program.
Georgia's Bruce Figgins and Justin Houston, both expected to be important contributors to this Bulldog team, were suspended for 6 and 2 games respectively for violation of team rules.
South Carolina signee Ben Axon, a well-regarded tailback from Tampa, has been arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. It's unclear exactly how much "23 baggies" really is, but it's safe to say it's more than one person can use in one day.
To make things worse for the Gamecocks, cornerback CC Whitlock was arrested at a nightclub for refusing to leave, this only days after he had be reinstated to the team from a previous suspension.
Rumors swirl of impending NCAA discipline for Bama with respect to the textbook scandal from two years ago. Not to mention, whispers about other matters that we aren't going to be putting much stock in unless it gets more serious.
And oh yeah, Lane Kiffin got more headlines by committing a recruiting violation by mentioning a recruit's name on Twitter, a "secondary" violation, but one that is a violation of a very well-known and well-understood rule even among people who don't coach college football: don't mention a kid's name in public until he actually signs. The explanation is that it was a grad assistant in his first day on the job that was given the task of maintaining Lane Kiffin's twitter feed. Of course, this is the same sort of "failure to have procedures in place to ensure compliance" that is supposedly getting Bama in trouble. I would say that giving an untrained and ignorant grad assistant the job of speaking in the coach's name to be a spectacular error in judgment.
Urban Meyer has gotten into an embarrassing public snit of his own devising, in which he seems to have publicly called out former quarterback (pre-Meyer) Shane Matthews, a radio talk show host.
Ole Miss committed a minor recruiting violation by writing an article talking about potential signees without using their names, but giving enough information to identify them. Nothing serious here and there won't be any long term consequences, but again it's bad news.

Meanwhile, LSU just sort of quietly passes the time this Spring, at least so far. Or at least, it did until the Corley situation came to light, which again, is bad news.

Sprints // 05.11.09

cocknfire — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:11:02 -0000

Are those crickets I hear? Not a bunch going on right now, to be completely honest. Sure, there's the normal stuff -- preparations for summer workouts, conference meetings, Georgia players getting suspended -- but other than that, quiet. We're at the high point (or low point, depending on how you want to look at it) of the summer doldrums.

Dawgs on Drugs. At least that's the reason Schlabach gives for two players spending a few games of quality time on the sidelines. Another player who was already leaving for medical reasons faced undefined "discipline" for the dreaded VOTR (violation of team rules), also the official reason given for the suspensions of Bruce Figgins and Justin Houston.

"I'm very disappointed in the poor judgment of these players," Richt said in the news release. "They'll have to pay an appropriate price and I'm confident they will learn an important lesson from their mistake."

Hydrate, gentlemen, hydrate. Oh, sorry, I think he means another lesson ...

How big could these losses be? Well consider this DawgsOnline post from last week about injuries and potential depth issues along the Georgia lines.

The defensive end position is even more unsettled than the offensive line. Other than the emergence of Justin Houston during the spring, can anyone even pretend to know anything about the rest of the group at this point?

Oops.

'It's hotter for us, it's cooler for them.' With all due respect to Mark Richt, this has got to be the lamest reason for moving the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Cocktail Party Cocktail Party away from Jacksonville that C&F has ever heard. For one thing, it's factually untrue -- the temperature in Jacksonville is precisely the same for both teams. Funny how that works. Second, the game is played in late October or early November. It's not usually snowing in Jacksonville that time of the year, but it's usually not blazing hot, either. Is it relatively cooler for Florida players than Georgia players? Perhaps. But -- let's be serious.

Going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, gone. Boy Wonder's regime has seen 11 players leave since he took over. No need to fear.

In fact, it would have more cause for concern if the Vols hadn't lost players.

UT has lost 11 players since Lane Kiffin replaced Phillip Fulmer as coach. Some were booted, some quit over the raised expectations and demands, and others left because the depth chart they had in mind didn't coincide with the one assembled by the coaches.

Will the attrition hurt UT? In the short-term, maybe. In the long-term, no.

In fact, this will help with RECRUITING. And if there's one thing Lane Kiffin knows how to do, it's RECRUITING. Winning football games? Who cares? He's good at RECRUITING. As Tennessee fans will tell you, that's all that matters.

Mr Irrelevant could make the Chiefs. Whether this is good or bad for Ryan Succop, I suppose, depends on the value of being on a very bad NFL team.

Albert Einstein anticipated this. This being the Big XII coaches sticking with their tiebreaker. (Who wants to bet the vote was 11-1?) Anticipated here.

South Carolina Takes Series from Vols

Gamecock Man — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:29:38 -0000

It wasn't the sweep we were hoping for, but the Gamecocks did get a key series win over the Vols in Knoxville on the strength of a powerful outing today. The win clinched an SEC Tournament berth for us. The highlight of the weekend was Saturday's come-from-behind thriller. We're now at 32-19 overall, 14-13 in the SEC, and still 3rd in the East behind Florida and Georgia. With UGA coming to town this weekend, we have a chance to finish second with a series win. (The Dawgs continued to slide over the weekened with a series loss to Vandy, while the Gators lost their series to LSU in a battle of Top 10 teams.) I still think we have a slight chance at hosting a regional if we win the two mid-week games against USC-Upstate and sweep UGA.

Not too much else going on this weekend. Ryan Succop continues to get some attention as Mr. Irrelevant, and Mark Richt suspended two UGA players--TE Bruce Figgins and projected starting DE Justin Houston--for drugs. The loss of Houston, who was one of UGA primary pass rushers, will have a significant effect on them when they play us. Also, this Gator writer believes we'll beat 'Bama in Tuscaloosa. My reaction: cautious but optimistic.

Should the Georgia Bulldogs Throw to the Tight End Against the L.S.U. Tigers?

T Kyle King — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:15:06 -0000

Not long ago, SG Standard’s FanPost on the Bulldogs’ pass defense sparked a productive discussion, so, along similar lines, I’d like to look at a potentially underutilized aspect of the Red and Black’s pass offense and ask whether it is something the Classic City Canines can afford to try---or can afford not to try---on Saturday.

Arguing that "No. 1 teams don’t grow on trees for Georgia"---as though they did for anyone else, either; in the B.C.S. era, only Louisiana State has hoisted the crystal football more than once---Brian Grummell contended that Georgia should reconsider its offensive philosophy. He made no mention of the direction in which the ‘Dawgs ought to go offensively, but his short and detail-deficient piece inspired Senator Blutarsky to get down to specifics:

The disappearing tight end. I mentioned this in passing yesterday, but this is a real puzzler. I know that Chandler’s been hurt, but I don’t understand why this position is being virtually ignored in the passing game. Georgia hasn’t completed a pass to a tight end since the Arizona State game.

In a subsequent update to the same posting, the Senator answered his own question by quoting this snippet from the Journal-Constitution’s Chip Towers regarding recent remarks by Mark Richt:

Asked why no tight ends have caught passes in the last few weeks, CMR said it was a byproduct of pass protection and injuries. Chandler’s out and Bruce Figgins (shoulder) is playing hurt. But mainly they’re using seven-man protections by keeping in a TE and a back and just throwing to three wideouts. He noted that the OL is doing well and there have been no sacks the last two games.

There have, however, been a combined four interceptions thrown in the last two games, which I believe is not unrelated to the offensive line issues to which Coach Richt referred:

Georgia simply has lost too many players to injury along the offensive line to be able to be either as explosive or as consistent as the talent at the skill positions ought to allow the Bulldogs to be. During the last two games, the ‘Dawgs moved the ball effectively between the 20s but bogged down in the red zone because an injury-depleted and reshuffled offensive line would not allow them simply to drive the pile and power their way into the end zone. Red zone interceptions only occur when you have to throw the ball inside the 20. Frankly, it looked disturbingly like the Eric Zeier era out there, with the difference being that this Bulldog team, unlike Zeier’s last two Bulldog teams, had a defense good enough to win the game.

So what about Senator Blutarsky’s "disappearing tight end"? Rather than rely on ineffective fades in the end zone, can the ‘Dawgs afford to sacrifice an extra blocker on the line in order to send an extra receiver against an L.S.U. squad whose few weaknesses include suspect pass coverage? Consider what Richard Pittman had to say upon the subject:

South Carolina discovered a new hole in our coverage by dragging a tight end short across the middle of the field, and we did not seem to have an answer for it.

Ultimately, of course, the Bayou Bengals adjusted, which is what good teams do . . . but, lest we forget, on the Bulldogs’ last visit to Baton Rouge in 2003, the Red and Black crossed the Louisiana State 40 yard line six times in the first half, yet blown chances, missed field goals, and turnovers allowed the Fighting Tigers to remain in the game and, ultimately, claim the victory en route to an eventual national championship. If Georgia can jump on L.S.U. early next weekend the way the Bulldogs should have jumped on the Tigers on their last visit to Death Valley, the Classic City Canines could bring home a huge win from the Pelican State.

Could the ‘Dawgs use the tight end as effectively as the Gamecocks were able to do in the first half last Saturday night? The Georgia coaches certainly have game film on how to make such a tactic effective, whereas the Louisiana State coaches will have no game film that will give them cause to fear the Bulldog tight end.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of the Red and Black’s losses along the offensive line; there is a reason why left tackle is the second-highest paid position in the N.F.L., and Georgia has lost two left tackles to injury this season. Can the Bulldogs afford to weaken the forward wall separating the L.S.U. defensive front from Matthew Stafford by putting the tight end’s hands to use for any purpose other than blocking onrushing defenders, in the hope of scoring enough points in the first two quarters to allow the visitors to prevail after L.S.U. inevitably adjusts defensively and clamps down in the second half?

When attempting to answer that question, we should examine what the Bayou Bengals did to the Gamecocks in the second half and how they did it:

The drag route by the tight end worked well for USC in the first half.

"That was our best play most of the night," said Spurrier, who credited LSU with doing a better job changing its coverages in the second half.

But the passes that worked so well in the first half weren't available in the second, as Garcia struggled to find receivers under a fierce pass rush. . . .

Garcia knew why his opportunities to throw to the tight ends disappeared.

"They adjusted and started coming with a big blitz. They blitzed a lot more than they did in the first half. It's that simple," he said.

It didn’t help that the Gamecocks were unable to counter with a ground attack.

"It's pretty tough without a running game," said Garcia.

Can Georgia contend with the L.S.U. blitz with only six blockers? Are the Bulldogs balanced enough to mount the effective ground attack South Carolina lacked? Should we throw to the tight end on Saturday afternoon? What are your thoughts?

Go ‘Dawgs!